


Homecoming

by randi2204



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: 3K Round-up Challenge, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 12:57:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7172690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randi2204/pseuds/randi2204
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Chris always did look forward to homecomings.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, no money.

Chris always did look forward to homecomings.  Of course, before, it had always been him coming home, and Sarah waiting for him on the porch when he rode up.

 

Things certainly were different now, he mused, leaning back in his chair.  Here _he_ was waiting on the porch, waiting for someone to come home to _him_.

 

As the sun sank lower, Chris cast his eye over his spread.  The barn rose, tall and sturdy, across from the house.  His mount lazed in the corral between the house and the barn; more horses grazed in the pasture beyond, foals sticking close to their mamas as nighttime crept in.  It was hard work, doing everything that needed doing, but… it was _good_ work.  It was satisfying.

 

It was even more satisfying when it was shared.

 

In a few minutes, he’d get up and go inside, dish up his supper.  He’d been hoping he wouldn’t eat it alone.

 

Just for a moment, he let himself wonder if Sarah had felt like this, all those times he’d gone to sell horses to make their future, leaving her by herself.  His heart gave a pang at the thought, and quickly pushed it away.

 

He’d always hurried back home, pushing his horse hard sometimes to get there as soon as possible, and he’d felt so happy, so… heart full to get there again and see her waiting for him.  Buck had always kidded him about being so _married_.  But that had felt good, too, being married.

 

_Funny… don’t feel any less married now,_ he thought, and his lips curved in a slight grin.

 

There wasn’t a church in the world that would sanctify this marriage, though.

 

He kept waiting, drew it out until the last lick of the sun disappeared past the horizon.  The crickets began to chirp, and the low hooting call of an owl taking off for its evening hunt swirled through the deepening dark.

 

With a sigh, Chris pushed himself to his feet.  _It ain’t like he told you he’d be back today,_ he thought.  _You were just_ hopin’ _he’d be back today.  Maybe tomorrow…_ Resolutely, he stepped toward the door, trying not to think about the silence awaiting him inside, or the chill of the bed.

 

His hand was on the latch when he heard it, so faint he thought he’d imagined it.  _Hoofbeats_ … He turned, peering toward the opposite slope, heart pounding in time with the sound, growing louder, until he could make out the shape of a rider, coming on at a steady lope.

 

Then the rider was close enough that Chris could recognize him, the familiar shape of his hat, the set of his broad shoulders as he rode, even if the darkness swallowed the color of his coat, and that knowledge filled in a piece inside him he hadn’t liked to think about missing.  _He’s home_ , Chris thought, and couldn’t help but grin.

 

The rider drew up by the porch and dismounted, and he was close enough now for Chris to see the dimples winking in his cheeks, the light dancing in his eyes.  “Mister Larabee,” Ezra drawled as he took hold of his horse’s bridle.  “I was not expectin’ a welcomin’ committee.”

 

“Lucky it’s just me then,” Chris replied, still grinning, and jerked his head toward the door.  “Supper’s waitin’ for you.”

 

“Since my last meal was… several long hours ago, that sounds very good indeed.  I’ll be in as soon as I can.”  He led his horse toward the barn.

 

Chris watched them go, then ducked inside to fill the kettle from the sink pump and set it on the stove to heat.  Ezra would be looking for some water to wash, being stained and weary from travel.  He turned up the lantern on the table, then stepped back out on the porch, leaning hipshot against the rail, waiting again.

 

It was only a short while before Ezra exited the barn, saddlebags over his shoulder.  He climbed the steps to the porch with a kind of tired eagerness, and Chris let him enter the cabin first.  They never touched out in the open like this, even with night blanketing the world, though Chris wanted nothing more than to take Ezra in his arms, like he’d taken Sarah so long ago.

 

Ezra set his saddlebags on the nearest chair, grinning impishly at him, and Chris couldn’t shut the door fast enough.  Then he was in Ezra’s arms and Ezra was in his, and that sense of _wholeness_ filled him to overflowing.

 

_Yeah,_ he thought as they traded fierce kisses, the kettle hissing on the stove behind them, _havin’ him come home, knowin’ he’s safe and sound…this is what bein’ married is._

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the [fic_promptly](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/) prompt [Any, any, they don't care. As far as they're concerned, they're married.](http://fic-promptly.dreamwidth.org/64373.html?thread=3065717#cmt3065717)


End file.
